Afghan officials say police have found the body of a Japanese aid worker, kidnapped Tuesday in eastern Nangarhar province.
Officials said Wednesday that it appeared Kazuya Ito was shot to death.
The 31-year-old Ito worked for a non-governmental group, Peshawar-kai, that runs medical clinics in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Meanwhile, Afghan officials say more than 30 Taliban militants have been killed in fighting since Monday.
The officials say Afghan and coalition forces killed 18 Taliban militants in southern Helmand province. Elsewhere in Helmand province, officials say air strikes killed another dozen Taliban militants.
In eastern Khost province, Afghan officials say U.S.-led coalition troops killed Rahmat Wali, a member of Afghanistan's national cricket team, during a raid on his home late Tuesday.
Also Wednesday, German officials say a German soldier was killed and three others wounded today, when their convoy hit a roadside bomb in the northern city of Kunduz. German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung said the "cowardly" attack would not keep Germany from helping bring stability to Afghanistan.
Tuesday, a spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Humayun Hamidzada, said foreign troops should remain in Afghanistan, but their actions must be within the framework of Afghan and international law.
The statement came after the United Nations said it had found "convincing evidence" that 90 Afghan civilians, most of them children, were killed during a U.S.-led coalition operation in western Herat province Friday.
Pentagon officials say they are investigating the incident.
Some information for this report was provided by dpa, AP and Reuters.
